Veterans greeted at BWI Airport and thanked for their service as part of Honor Flight Network

Veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War are welcomed at the terminal gate by hundreds of people cheering and clapping as they arrive from Columbus, Ohio, at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Linthicum. The welcome was organized by Honor Flight Network, a nationwide organization whose mission is to bring Veterans to Washington, D.C., to tour their memorials at no cost to them.

“When we came home they were spitting on us,” Roy Cox said. The 75-year-old Korean and Vietnam war veteran choked back tears as he spoke. “We didn’t have this when we were coming home.”

“People told us, ‘go back to Vietnam,’ ” Ware remembers. He said he was spat on and called a “baby-killer.”

“I couldn’t even get a job,” he said.

When Dave Luckhaupt, 90, descended the plane, he said he felt “overwhelmed.”

None of the veterans anticipated the welcome they received at BWI — almost 300 volunteers greeting them with clapping and cheering.

“It didn’t take a whole lot to bring tears to my eyes,” he said.

Minutes before the plane touched down, the hoard of volunteers formed two long lines, with space in the middle for the veterans to walk down. It resembled more of a parade than an airline gate.

“Welcome home, G.I.,” shouted John San Felice, a longtime Honor Flight Network volunteer and Army veteran. A child held a pink-and-blue sign that said, “Welcome Home” while others waved American flags.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Nate Mitchell, a Severna Park resident, stood in the crowd, in uniform. He was joined by his wife and two of his daughters.

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“The pure emotion when the veterans come off the plane and see the active duty standing there, it’s a mutual feeling of souls,” Mitchell said as he cradled his 2-month-old baby, Hazel, in his arms. He has two other daughters — 18 and 20 years old — who are away at college. “We do this almost every weekend.”

A Vietnam veteran was wheeled off the airplane and, upon greeting the crowd of cheering volunteers, hoisted himself out of his chair and insisted on walking.

San Felice said that’s not uncommon. It’s a very exciting moment for the veterans, he said.

“A lot of veterans were never greeted properly,” San Felice said. “So this is a way to say thank you for what they did.”

There was a sense of urgency among the volunteers to honor the veterans that are left.

“What’s important is, there’s only about five years left for the World War II veterans, and we’re trying to make sure they all get to come and see their memorials,” said San Felice. “It means a lot just to be in their presence. For me, it’s an honor.”

Jack Irvine, 92, was among three World War II veterans on Sunday’s Honor Flight.

Volunteers shared stories about accompanying veterans to their memorials; stories of men who told tales about the names inscribed on the wall of the Vietnam memorial and veterans who can recount the battle scenes portrayed at the World War II memorial.

Brown said she traveled with a World War II vet who recognized a scene at the memorial — down to the dump truck used to haul away the soldiers who died during combat.